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Miss Buckley's father John called Pacteau a "cowardly vicious criminal" for killing the family's "little angel".

Mr Buckley said: "What a waste of a young life. It all seemed unreal.

"No words of ours can do justice to our feelings towards him. He is truly evil and we hope that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

"Our hearts are broken at the thought of Karen's final moments on this world. The thought of her being alone, frightened and struggling for her life haunts us.

"The panic and fear she experienced as she fought for her very survival but she had no chance against that coward.

"The last face she saw and the last voice she heard was of that cold blooded cowardly murderer, who calmly set about trying to dispose of her body so she would never be found."

Mr Buckley said coming back to the city where his daughter was brutally murdered had been "incredibly difficult" and the family hoped Glasgow would now be a safer place for woman to walk.

"Though Karen will never come back, we only hope someday to be with her. She is not suffering now, she is in her new home in heaven. We miss her terribly," Mr Buckley said.

Miss Buckley, a nurse who was studying for a post-graduate qualification at Glasgow Caledonian University, was seen on CCTV leaving The Sanctuary nightclub in the early hours of Sunday April 12.

Footage showed her talking to a man as they walked along Dumbarton Road.

Detectives soon revealed they were treating her disappearance as a high-risk missing person inquiry and her parents also flew over from Ireland.

By the Tuesday, police said they had spoken to the man seen talking to Miss Buckley outside the club who had said she travelled with him to his flat a few miles away in Dorchester Avenue before leaving some hours later.

Police also appealed for information about a grey car that was seen on the roads between Milngavie and Drymen on the Sunday.

Detectives also said the student's handbag had been found at a park near to the man's flat and the police hunt focused on the two sites in the north west of the city.

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Police interviewing Pacteau after his arrest

Pacteau was named in media reports and and the following day he was detained by police.

Miss Buckley's body was later found at High Craigton Farm near Milngavie, ending the four-day police search.

Pacteau was arrested and appeared in court on April 17 charged with murder.

Pacteau admitted attacking her in his car. He said he strangled her and repeatedly hitting her with the spanner.

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CCTV footage showed Pacteau outside the Sanctuary Club on the night Miss Buckley went missing

The court heard how Pacteau had met Miss Buckley outside the club in the early hours of the morning and drove with her in his car to nearby Kelvin Way.

The car was parked on the street for 12 minutes, during which time Pacteau attacked and murdered her by grabbing her neck and delivering 12 or 13 blows with the spanner.

The court was told Miss Buckley suffered some injuries to her arm as she tried to defend herself.

Pacteau's silver Ford Focus was seen on CCTV leaving the area and heading towards Dawsholm Park, where the following morning a member of the public found Miss Buckley's handbag near a bin.

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The car in which Pacteau admits murdering Miss Buckley

Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC, prosecuting, told the court how Pacteau then drove to his flat and took Miss Buckley's body inside to his room.

At 8am he used his mobile phone to look up the properties of a chemical called sodium hydroxide, or caustic soda. He then locked his bedroom door and travelled to a B&Q store where he bought six litres of the chemical and masks and gloves, the court heard.

He also went to a Poundstretcher store near his flat and bought more of the chemical.

He texted his flatmate to make sure he was out for the day, then returned to the flat and left Miss Buckley's body in the bath.

Pacteau was found cleaning the hall and stairwell when his flatmate returned home at around 8pm. He had moved her body into his locked bedroom again wrapped in a duvet, the court heard.

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Pacteau left his flat at around 5am the following morning and went to a bridge of the nearby Forth and Clyde Canal where he threw the spanner he used to kill Miss Buckley into the water.

He then drove to a supermarket and bought cleaning products and asked a member of staff to recommend a product for removing blood from a mattress.

Pacteau made his first journey to High Craigton Farm, an area known to him as he rented a storage unit there during a previous job selling fireworks.

He stopped off at a supermarket on the way to buy white spirit and a lighter, the court was told.

He burned some clothing while there before returning to his flat where he used his mobile phone to call a packaging company and ordered a large blue barrel.

Mr Mulholland said Pacteau collected the barrel and returned to Dorchester Avenue where he placed Miss Buckley's body in the barrel.

He then took the mattress from his car to the farmland where he burned it along with other items before returning to the flat and taking the barrel to his car.

Pacteau stopped off to buy padlocks at an Asda store then made his way to the farm where he arranged to rent two storage units for a week.

He then moved the barrel into one of the units, covering it with a sheet and placing a bike wheel and paper shredder on top.

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Pacteau's home at 11 Dorchester Avenue in Glasgow

Pacteau visited a car valet on his way home, at around 4pm, the court heard.

While waiting for the Ford Focus to be cleaned, Pacteau used his phone to create an advert to sell his car.

Police officers knocked on his door around two hours later after he was identified as the man talking to Miss Buckley on CCTV.

As he opened the door to the police Pacteau said "I was just coming to see you", Mr Mulholland told the court.

The officers noticed a strong smell of bleach in the flat and a tool box and other items in a bedroom.

Pacteau agreed to go with the officers to the station as a witness. During a search, police found a Poundstrecher receipt for a series of chemicals and padlock keys in the 21-year-old's pockets.

He gave a statement saying he met Ms Buckley outside the club and they both went back to his flat where they had consensual sex.

He told police Miss Buckley had fallen and injured herself on the bed frame but he did not notice she had been bleeding until the following morning, and when he realised police were looking for information regarding her disappearance he panicked.

He told them he had burned the mattress and clothes on a forest road near Drymen. He claimed he did this because he was aware he was the last person to see her alive.

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Flowers left at the scene of where Miss Buckley's body was discovered

While he was detained by police, officers recovered a hand-written note containing the account of what he had earlier told police.

The Lord Advocate said it was now accepted by the accused that his statements were untrue.

The court heard how a member of the public had contacted police after reading that Pacteau was the last person to see Miss Buckley and, realising police were looking for information on a vehicle seen on roads near Drymen, the witness told officers about the storage unit at the farm that Pacteau used in the past.

Police then went to High Craigton Farm where they found the blue plastic barrel containing Miss Buckley's body.

A post-mortem examination showed she had suffered multiple injuries to her head consistent with blunt force, the court heard.

The court heard how Pacteau, who sat in the dock with his head bowed, was then interviewed again by police.

He told officers Miss Buckley had slapped him on the face when she was in his bedroom and he grabbed the first thing to hand to hit her and she died.

Mr Mulholland said: "Of course that is not the case."

Pacteau told detectives about the barrel and taking it to the farm. He was then arrested over her murder.

"No words of mine can express the effect this terrible murder has had on the family," the Lord Advocate said.